Matt Jones

Gateshead, Tesco

In Gateshead town centre, huge steel structures are being
bolted together like giant Meccano. Their sterile frames loom
over and encroach the streets below in a way that
demonstrates their designer’s lack of regard for the people
who will be using the spaces around them.

The purpose of these buildings is largely the same as the
former occupants of the site; it’s a shopping centre, a hub
for commercial activity based around the private car. This
time however, people will park their cars in a subterranean
pit rather than a conspicuous multi story car park. There
will also be two large blocks of student accommodation to
capitalise on Newcastle’s large student population.

It’s a continued mining of public urban space for
commercial interest, and cheap construction methods as well
as scant regard for the importance of good urban architecture
are creating places that serve commercial interests and not
the residents of Gateshead.

Rodney Gordon’s Trinity Centre and multi-story car park
divided opinions; as a project to revive Gateshead town
centre it was a failure, but as a piece of architecture, of
art and design, it was unique. Much like the sculptures found
in Gateshead’s public places - the Angel of the North being
the most famous example - it was an audacious piece of public
art, but with a function that, for a number of economic
reasons, was never fully utilised. Whatever you thought
of it, it was designed by someone who genuinely thought their
work would improve people’s lives through modern design.

There is no such original thinking in this new
development; its design is informed by cost and by market
research. The associated public relations material is pure
tokenism; yes, there will be what they call a public square,
but I see it more as a kind of commercial clearing, or maybe
a legally required fire assembly point. Try and exercise the
rights you’d normally have in a public square, for example:
to do street photography, campaign for a particular cause,
protest, proselytise etc., and you’d no doubt be moved on by
someone with a walkie-talkie line to the CCTV operator.

In thirty years time, will this development gain the
notoriety that its predecessor enjoyed before it was
demolished? I suspect not. The car park was a radical and
brave building the like of which hadn’t been seen
before. These buildings will be homogenous with most
city-centre retail buildings constructed in the UK during the
last twenty years, so their sheer banality will no doubt be
met by indifference. With that in mind, maybe we get the
buildings we deserve.